To Loose your Better Half
by Crystal56
Summary: It is believed that twins may share a soul, so what happens when Fred looses George?


"GEORGE!" Fred cried as he held his brother close.  
"Don't worry, it's... just... a scratch..." George replied, weakly reaching up to touch Fred's hair, "Hey... you're going... going to be okay..."  
"No... no... NO!" Fred yelled at him, "You can't die!" He tried once again to put pressure on George's bleeding wound.  
"See ya bro. You know... you always were the better half..." And George, he breathed in... then out... then in... and he faded into darkness...  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter  
  
To Loose your Better Half  
  
"I'm so sorry Fred," whispered Harry as the gruesome news was delivered.  
"Oh Harry!" Ginny cried, hugging him. Harry held her uncertainly. Ron was crying on Hermione's shoulder and Harry didn't know what to say anymore. Mr. and Mrs. Weasly were talking with Dumbledore about something, leaving the Weasly Kids, Harry, and Hermione alone, just waiting. Fred was the worst off. He kept muttering about how he couldn't save his twin, how he should have been the one to die instead. It was really heartbreaking for everyone to see. Fred seemed to now be giving up on life.  
"Well, he's..." Hermione paused for a moment, unsure of any comforting words to give to Fred, "..."  
"He... you know what he... called me?" Fred asked softly. Everyone leaned in a little closer to hear.  
"What?" Ginny asked through her tears.  
"The better half..." Fred replied, then broke down sobbing once again as Bill held him gently. Charlie looked at the stone gargoyle of Dumbledore's office.  
"What's taking them so long?" he asked. Everyone looked in that direction, although the gargoyle remained motionless.  
"Why couldn't it have been me?" Fred muttered once again.  
  
~*~  
  
"The funeral is this Sunday. You will come, won't you Hermione, Harry?" Mrs. Weasly asked, drying her eyes. Hermione forced out a small smile.  
"George was our friend too. We wouldn't miss it," she replied.  
"Yeah, we'll be there," Harry said as well. Mrs. Weasly hugged them both and smiled sadly.  
"Fred still isn't doing too well," she said, "And Bill while he's here is helping him with Weasly's Wizard Wheezes."  
"Well, if he needs help, I could use a summer job to get me out of the house," Harry said, but knew all too well that he probably wouldn't be allowed, the death eaters were still after him.  
"I must be going now. I'll see you on Sunday," she said, and apparated into the growing night.  
  
~*~  
  
It was Sunday. It was the day of the funeral. Fred stood to the side of the casket, greeting people as they walked by. He was holding himself up with much effort. Harry and Hermione came up to him and Hermione hugged him while Harry and he talked. He wouldn't meet their gaze and then turned to talk to someone else. Pretty much everyone was there, including most of the Hogwarts teachers. Filch wasn't there of course, but Snape was. He was sitting next to Dumbledore and looked actually sad for once, but then, he was one of the ones who were there at the time of George's death. Mrs. Weasly came to greet Harry and Hermione, and encouraged them to sit with the Weaslys. There were some Weaslys there that they had never seen before, and after short introductions, they scooted next to Ron and Ginny, who still were looking solemn.  
"Are you any better?" Harry asked, although deep down he knew Ron and Ginny still were hurting deep down inside.  
"Harry," Ron began, "I miss George." Harry nodded and watched as Hermione hugged him.  
"Shhh..." Hermione hushed, "the ceremony is about to start." And it did. Silence fell over those who were gathered there as many went forward with stories about all the crazy things that Fred and George did together, they were never seen apart. People laughed, they cried, their tears of joy mingled with those of sorrow. Finally, Fred stood up at the front, and began to deliver one of the best and most serious speeches oh his life.  
"I knew George, well, from the moment we were born. When I was old enough to understand what my mum was talking about, I heard her always saying we would grow up to do something big. And we did. We started at Hogwarts and almost immediately began to have fun. Once we learned charms, we tried to charm everything we knew about, and that was how we began to develop our joke items. Mum didn't like it, she said we wasted our time, but now there's a big market out there for our stuff, and mum doesn't complain anymore." He took a slow pause as there were a few chuckles from amidst the crowd.  
"Before George died, he told me something... he called me the better half. Now, what really qualified me as the better half? He was always the one to think of the new ideas; he did most of the instructing as to how to charm certain things. I'm not the better half; I didn't see how he saw me as the better half. Then again, maybe that's just how twins see one another, the other is the better half," Fred took another pause. He seemed okay at this point in time.  
  
~*~  
  
"I... It's still... too hard, to go on without George. I need him," Fred said. He stood in his apartment room near Diagon Alley. He didn't look forward to work tomorrow. Then... why did he have to go at all? Ron would take over the business, he'd just need all the instructions, and he'd be fine. Harry could help him run it. Fred looked at his wand, and then he looked at George's wand. They'd never develop new gags together again. Fred wanted release from it all. At the funeral reception, he heard all of those people, but that wasn't his life anymore. This wasn't where he belonged. Without George, life seemed meaningless now. He couldn't bear the pain of trying and attempting to move on. It didn't feel the same, it didn't seem the same. It would never be the same. He scribbled some last wishes or something onto a piece of paper, placed it in an envelope and left it on his desk, and then he went into the kitchen. George was always the one to cook. He was good at that sort of thing. He heard the muggle telephone ring, and he answered it. It was Harry.  
"Hello Harry," Fred said, attempting a cheerfulness he wasn't feeling.  
"I'm just calling... to make sure you are okay," Harry said back.  
"Well, I'm just fine, really," Fred said hurriedly.  
"You don't need anyone over there with you? Do you need any help?" he asked.  
"No, I'll be all right. I just need a little more time," Fred replied.  
"Okay then. I expect your mum'll call in a bit," Harry said, "just to give you a heads up."  
"Thanks," Fred replied, and hung up the phone. He went back into the kitchen and looked at the cutlery board. George used to cook with those a lot. A quick escape, that was all he needed, wasn't it? He took out one of them; he remembered how well it cut up a lot of the meats that George used to use. He remembered hearing somewhere a better way to cut yourself making it easier to die and faster. A quick release. He dug the blade into one wrist, cutting deeply. He dug the blade into his other wrist as well, and fell to the floor.  
"Don't worry Brother, I'll be there with you soon," he murmured as his fading consciousness took effect. The blood seeped in a pool around him, and he didn't care.  
  
The Darkness consumed him  
  
It bounded him eternally  
  
The bond he shared  
  
With his better half  
  
Never to be there again  
  
The sorrowful, pitiful anguish  
  
Drove him to his suicide  
  
Drove him into the blackened night  
  
His family will miss him,  
  
And yet,  
  
He is happy once again...  
  
"Don't worry brother, I'll be with you again, you are the better half," Fred murmured, closed his eyes, and felt no more pain. Goodbye mum, dad, Ron, Harry, Hermione, to all my family, don't weep, I'm with my better half...  
  
A/N: Yeah, so sad... Anyways, a friend of mine told me that the brothers should be bonded, like two parts of a soul; one cannot and will not exist without the other, so I was inspired to write this piece. Please read and review, and if you positively must flame, don't swear, please... keep it PG or G. 


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